Week 6- Results

1) On one side of the ledger we went a solid 9-4 on the day to bring our season totals to 48-32, or a .600 winning %, However that is tempered by one of the losses, a HUGE defeat of the Red Wings by the lowly maple leafs(our lock) to bring that total to a mortal 4-2 so far this season.

2) We will be back for week 7 next Saturday the 14th when a dozen games will be contested. In addition we're told that FR2 will be publishing their Power rankings this week. As always keep it here for all the latest!

Weekly Picks- 6

1) Its Week Six of our weekly venture of picking each NHL game. Thus far we have a solid-albeit weaker than before last weeks poor showing, 39-28, or a .582 winning % record.

Nashville at Los Angeles: Kings

Buffalo at Boston : Bruins

Tampa Bay at Montreal: Habitants

Atlanta at NY Islanders: Islanders

New Jersey at Ottawa: Senators

St. Louis at Philadelphia: Flyers

Detroit at Toronto: Red Wings ( Lock of The Week)

Florida at Washington: Capitals

Carolina at Columbus: Blue Jackets

Dallas at Minnesota: Wild

NY Rangers at Calgary : Flame

Phoenix at Anaheim: Ducks

Pittsburgh at San Jose: Sharks

Storm Warnings!

1) With a lost weekend the Carolina Hurricanes dropped further, and as of this post a mere one point from into the basement of the Eastern Conference. A place no one in the preseason thought we'd see the former Final 4 team at any time this season. However with Sunday's loss the Canes haven't won in nine games and are off to their worst start (2-8-3) in franchise history! Whats more troubling is the fact that, according to coach Maurice, "it's a different fire each day", meaning its not one thing or player that is to blame but a collective failure.

2) Has bottom been hit the past week when they have been outscored 16-4 in their last three games? Or can/will it get worse because an injury has possibly been added to the insult when star forward Eric Staal left last night's game with an 'upper body injury'. If he is lost for any length of time it would further hinder an already anemic attack. Its very unlikely we'll see Carolina's GM, Jim Rutherford pull the trigger on a coaching change, as Maurice has only (re)-returned to go behind the bench less than a year ago (replacing the fired Cup winning coach Peter Laviolette) and he also just signed a contract extension this past summer. Its also unlikely to expect the Canes will/can make a major line up shake up. No fellow GM is going to volunteer and help out Carolina in their time of need. As it is almost every team is close to or up against the salary cap anyway, so a deal of any proportions would be unlikely. Of course with the wheels off its difficult to put a finger on what exactly that 'need' might be?

3) On the flip side as bad as they have been (and they have been horrendous) the Canes are really only a nice win streak away from playoff contention (6 points). There are still 69 games left to be played, and on another positive note they do hold a modest 2-1 record within their division. The same teams they'll play most so it won't be difficult to see them turn things around and get back into the race. However they better not allow themselves too many lost weekends (or in their case, lost fortnights!) because its not easy to quickly move up in the standing with loser points and to try to catch multiple teams is a daunting task. If we had to bet we'd say they WILL be right there by season's end. Perhaps not challenging the Washington Capitals for the division as we thought was possible when we made our preseason predictions, but they should at least be in playoff contention. When all is said and done they do have enough talent to get there. Lets see if they can play to expectations or if this season gets swept away like a storm force wind.

TGO = The Greedy One!

1) In yet (another) example of what TGO-Wayne Gretzky has become, the former Coyote coach has threatened to pull out of a scheduled appearance at the Hockey Hall of Fame ceremony scheduled next week (Nov. 9) in Toronto. Evidently from sources close to The Greedy One, Wayne is livid the NHL didn't guarantee he'd get his 'fair share' of the money allocated to unsecured creditors as part of the NHL purchase of the Coyotes. As a source told the press this past weekend, Wayne will have to fight his former co-owner Jerry Moyes to get anything, and at most he'll get 10 cents on the dollar minus legal fees. The ladder is the explanation why last week Gretzky decided to NOT block the sale to the NHL. As a source told us, "Gretzky had about a snowball's chance in hell of winning and it would have cost him tens of thousands to try". So when columnists like Bruce Garrioch and or Larry Brooks state that Gretzky's 'class' is why he didn't block the sale, we say, bull shit!

2) WE take no pleasure in stating what we feel is the obvious concerning the NHL's greatest player, but, in our opinion he already disgraced himself this past September. When his team needed him he disappeared without a trace when the Coyotes arrived in training camp because as we were told, Wayne had no assurances from the NHL that he'd get paid the same (HUGE!) salary from the new owners (NHL) as he had been receiving his previous (losing) seasons as the 'Yotes head coach.http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2009/09/best-news-in-phoenix-so-far-this-year.html. So now he's going to take his puck and go home despite having supposed 'friends' like former team mates Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Luc Robitaille, etc getting inducted. Some friend indeed!! As usual for Gretzky, its all about him!

Week 5 -Results

1) The spooky results from yesterday's Halloween game picks are in. The results were absolutely ghoulish! We went a frightening 5-6 on the night to bring our season long total to 39-28, or a .582 winning %. We even dropped our first 'Lock' as the Pens lost at home to The Wild who were previously winless in 8 tries. That brings that stat to 4-1 on the young season.

2) We will be back at this again next Saturday when a whopping 13 games will be in play. Also FR2 promised that they should have the blog's 2009-2010 inaugural Power rankings out sometime later this week. They tell us they plan to post their Power rankings about 4-5 times this season, or about every 15-20 games. Also we are formulating/finishing up posts on the Quebec City issue and also one about Carolina. A always, keep it here for all the latest!

Weekly Picks: Week 5 and Halloween Edition! BOO!!!

1) Happy Halloween to all our readers. Scarily its week 5 in the NHL 2009-2010 season. There are 11 games up for grabs today. We take our not so scary good record of 34-22 or a .607 winning % into Week 5's slate


Edmonton at Boston: Bruins


Carolina at Philadelphia: Flyers


Atlanta at Ottawa : Senators


New Jersey at Tampa Bay : Devils-Who else could we pick today? ; )


Toronto at Montreal : Habitants


Buffalo at NY Islanders : Sabres


Minnesota at Pittsburgh : Penguins ( Lock Of The Week)


Florida at St. Louis: Blues


Dallas at Nashville: Stars


Anaheim at Phoenix Coyote


Detroit at Calgary: Flame

South-Least Division?

1) With all due respect to our readers who are fans of teams in this division, the lofty pre season expectations for the elevation of the division as the annual door mats of the league has not transpired. Despite having two of the NHL's best/most exciting players(above) the division continues to falter. In fact it can be argued that it is as bad as ever. We expected so much more. Perhaps we were expecting more than what was possible? Only the Capitals are where most would expect-3rd overall in the East. The rest of the division after about 10 games is a mess. Of course we caution our readers as was mentioned in FR's early-surprises post, its still early enough that this and other early trends might change, but so far its not pretty.

2) With 4 of the bottom 6 teams coming from this one, oft (deservedly) maligned conference. Some use this as ammo to attack Gary Bettman's/NHL's southern exposure policy. We'll leave that for another day/other blogs, but lets take a look at the teams that make up the so-called South LEAST Division:

• Carolina Hurricanes: We expected so much more from one of last year's Final 4 teams. As was written before, this blog expected them to compete with the Caps for the division. That may still be possible, but only 2 wins after 11 games, (having lost 7 in a row!) and already 9 points off the pace is no way to start a season. Maurice has been in vainly jumbling his lines in an attempt to get their offense to awaken. Too early, but might Paul's job already be in jeopardy if the Canes continue to stumble?




• Tampa Bay Lightning: Few had much in the way of expectations for TB. We expected an improvement, but not a playoff calibre team just yet. So far those expectations are on target. On one hand a 3-3-3 record isn't bad, but 3 wins in 9 isn't all that great either. Alex Tanguay is still looking for goal #1, and captain for life Lecavalier, has one! So we suppose they are poised to improve once that Quebecer-duet get going? Right now the biggest issue surrounding the team is their continued ownership problems (sound familiar?)




• Florida Panthers: Like Carolina, we expected much more from the big Kittys. Not a surprise that they are off to a slow start, but come on this is ridiculous! After 10 games only the Toronto Maple Leafs have fewer points than the Panthers. As was written by FR concerning Coach DeBoer who-gets-axe-first-2009-edition, "the jury is still out" on this guy. If this trend continues however the jury will be returning a negative verdict very soon!

• Atlanta Thrashers: Like Tampa, low expectations coming into the season. Tough break-literally, that they have lost super star sniper Ilya Kovolchuk for a month. Before that the Thrash were a respectable (for them) 4-3-1. Its anyone's guess how they'll do without their best player in the lineup for a protracted amount of time. Will/can Afinoganov/Antropov fill the void? Our guess, based upon past performances, is no. Will they put teen ager Evander Kane on the top line? The kid has shown us a lot early on, but this might be asking a lot so soon.




• Washington Capitals: Only team in the SE that currently appears to be playing as expected/a playoff team. Probably one of about 3 teams in the East that is a Cup contender. Not without their problems, but one can't argue with success, only 2 regulation losses in 11 games thus far. Will be interesting to see if they can unload salary cap anchor, Nylander and bolster an already potent line up.